Muggle Studies
by Southern-47
Summary: After the Chamber, one of the professors at Hogwarts is released from an imprisonment of his own doing. He gives two wronged students a chance to live, and garner what they desire most. MajorOC HPGW
1. End of the Beginning

A/N Not mine, just JKR's. Plain and Simple

Prologue: The End of the Beginning 

After the events in the Chamber of Secrets, the teachers were in a fuss. Even after all the students had gone home, the professors were still obsessing over how they had been fooled by Voldemort. They had been informed by Dumbledore that the Weasley girl had been possessed by his memory through that infernal diary that she wrote in. Trying to ease their worries, Dumbledore strengthened the wards around the castle and let them add any of their own design as long as he approved. These actions, however, did little to ease the worries of the professors. 

However, there were three teachers that did not share in the panic that was prevalent among the rest of the staff. The Headmaster, of course, knew there was nothing else they could do to prevent further possession attempts, but only ways to keep cursed objects out of the castle. It wasn't much, but he was not too worried. As long as the people of the wizarding world kept their faith in him, it would just be that much easier for him to orchestrate the war he knew that was coming. He sighed, and turned back to the fire. The boy that rescued Miss Weasley was starting to come into his own, but Albus was having reservations about training him. True, the boy had been through much, but Harry needed a childhood. No, he didn't need to train him personally, at least until Voldemort comes back. The boy needed to live. And anyways, an exposure to such power at such a young age would just drive him into the dark. Not acceptable at all.

Down in the dungeons, one Severus Snape was not even concerning himself with what had happened to the Weasley girl. He knew that it was only luck that she had survived, and even more so that the Potter boy had saved her. Why would he believe what the boy said anyway, it wasn't like he had actually faced a basilisk. No, it was more likely that he had come across some old snake, or even more so that it was just a skeleton or a carcass, finally dead from old age. Please, it was ridiculous, how could a 12 year old boy kill a 60 foot long snake and a semi corporeal form of Voldemort. The boy's ego was growing to be worse than his father's. It just seemed like he couldn't stay out of the limelight for one second. Turning back to his potions, he set back to work. Even though the potions that Madam Pomfrey wanted could stir themselves, it was a balm on his nerves to make them by hand. This was what potion making was about, not a bunch of snotty nosed brats trying to make each others' potions explode or have some other deleterious reaction.

The third professor, however, did not watch everything from the viewpoint of complete distress. Nor did he watch it like a concerned man trying to act as everyone's' grandfather would. It was not a view of complete aloofness that he presented to the residents of the castle. It was a complete vacant expression that was the image of one who wanted to speak, but couldn't. The professors noted that he knew the answer to any question that they had, but only as long as someone else had discovered the answer first. To an unknowing observer, it appeared that he lacked imagination, but anyone who looked closely saw that anytime he didn't know he had a slight pained expression on his face, like one who knows the answer yet for some unknown reason couldn't tell the one who asked the question. Either way, he never made an original suggestion, never spoke out, never did anything to make his opinions heard. All of what he did was done perfectly, and all of what he taught was completely accurate. There was something that was hidden, something that seemed to want to get out. No one knew what to make of it. Even Quirrell showed more initiative than him. It was a wonder that he kept his job, yet he performed it well enough that he did. No more, no less.

Now, though, sitting in his office, he was sitting in his chair, staring at what appeared to be a pocket watch, yet slightly larger and thicker, yet with no knobs or dials. Taking a closer look, the watch was made of three hands, one of which was unmoving pointing at the 4 o'clock while the other two were rotating in opposite directions at constantly variable speeds. The longest hand was the one that had stopped. His desk was covered with parchments and books, all covered with arithmetic and runic calculations. Even though the calculations were complicated by normal standards, and some even incomprehensible, he understood them quite handily, and was able to compute an apparently simple answer from them, although it was spelled in a language that was archaic and dead by today's standards.

The clock's two moving hands started to both increase in speed, moving faster and faster until their motions themselves became blurred. Then, without warning, the mid-lengthed hand stopped, pointing directly where 8 o'clock would be on a normal counterpart. Both of the hands that were stopped glowed a bright blue, and a shockwave emanated through the castle, barely perceptible in the human range. Yet at this, the man smiled. The motion seemed to take a toll on him, as though the muscles that he had forgotten for this particular movement were suddenly working once more. His eyes started twinkling in that infernal manner that Albus Dumbledore was best known for. The eyes held a major difference. While Dumbledore's eyes still conveyed a sense of trust and inner youth to all who saw, his eyes were old, as one would look as they were about to die. 

He picked himself up, and reached out with his mind. The headmaster's new wards protected the students, somewhat, from mental intrusion from outside influences, but they didn't even register a mental thread going out. His mind focused southward for a minute, than his mind returned to his body. He smiled again, but this time, it was feral. He looked as a hunter would after many years of pacification. 

"It has been quite a while since I have spoken freely without the influence of that _verdammt_ spell." He glanced back at the watch, and sighed resignedly. "It still lasts though. Ah well, at least now I can act, and at quite an opportune time, as there is quite an important prophecy carried out now. I shall see whether I can teach the child. He is one of two I have ever seen with potential. Magic indeed does know more than us all combined…"

With this, he leaned back and laughed. What would Albus think about his most introverted professor's new attitude. The sight would be odd, that was for sure. Now, it was time the world would know what a professor of the lowliest subject would be able to do. After all, who would expect a professor of Muggle Studies to be able to do anything? 


	2. Contemplations and Conversations

Chapter One: Contemplations and Conversations

Harry Potter woke at Number 4 Privet Drive to the sound of his Aunt's call. He sighed as he pulled the decrepit trainers that were 3 sizes too big, even though they were 6 years old. He really hated it here. The constant bemoaning of his relatives for him to do this chore, that chore, just every chore they weren't too lazy to do. And they were too lazy to do any chore. He wondered what was the point of it? Why did he come back here for two years straight, knowing that he would be used as slave labor and abused the moment he set foot inside the door. As he was making breakfast for the pig, walrus, and giraffe that were otherwise known as his family, the thought ground through his mind searching for an answer. As he set down the food on the table 15 minutes later, (fifty slices of bacon for his uncle and cousin, and 20 eggs for them to split), he realized something drastic. There was no reason he came back here. The only one who had ever told him to return to the Dursleys was Dumbledore, or him by proxy. Molly Weasley was easily a much better mother to him than Aunt Petunia had ever been. Heck, he'd only met Mr. Weasley a few times, as he was often at worked when he stayed at the Burrow, but he was much nicer than any other man he had ever met. He was glad he had met them, as they brought some much needed balance into his life. Before he could continue that train of thought, he was interrupted by his uncle's diatribe.

"Boy, you listen to me. Me and your Aunt here are going to go out and get a present for Dudley, since he did so well in his examinations." Here he showed a proud look on his face, while Harry hid a grimace. Apparently flunking out of only one class was a good enough reason to receive an expensive present from the nearest game store. "While we're gone, you are to mow the lawn, weed the garden, wash the car, paint the fence, and get lunch ready. Do you hear me?"

Harry sighed. "Yes uncle."

Vernon looked like he wanted to do something to anger the boy, but settled for letting him stew. He'd be easier to taunt later, and any outburst would be stress relieving.

Harry watched as his relatives left, _accidentally_ revving the company car's large engine to get the neighbor's attention. Not that he got more attention just by walking by than by the auto's small engine, the fat walrus. Harry groaned, and headed toward the cupboard to get the paint and cleaning solution out.

The chores today turned out to be especially dull, with the sky a dull lifeless grey, no sun shining through the smoky canopy. With not even the heat of a summer day to keep his mind busy, it began going over the events of the previous years. There was something off there, at least something that couldn't be reasoned off to be luck and random circumstances. Before he had come, he was told that Hogwarts was the safest place in Wizarding Britain, and one of the most in the entire world. It had not, however, lived up to its stellar reputation. He knew it was expected that there would be some accidents, considering that this school did teach one how to use potentially lethal spells and to make potions whose contents could possibly be explosive if mixed in the incorrect way. However, the two incidents in the first year were an example of what was not excused by even magical laws of probability. It is ...odd, that a troll, which to himself appeared to have less intelligence than most dogs he had the displeasure of meeting, was able to make it inside the ancient castle and its defenses, while alerting no one but the defense professor. Furthermore, Dumbledore had not been able to find the troll until _right _after he, Ron, and Hermione had nearly died by its hands. The oddest thing was that Dumbledore had easily been able to find him later in the year when he was searching for the Mirror of Erised, and at that point Harry was purposefully trying to hide himself from anybody. An easy explanation would be to say that the Headmaster had an easy way to track the students, and that he was so busy with the feast that he did not even notice that anything had broken the wards. But that did not add up. Something just wasn't right... The deal with the Philosopher's Stone too did nothing to redeem his opinion of his professor's ineptitude. If three first years were capable of piercing defense originally made to stop grown Dark Lords, a fishy smell came to him. He also didn't miss that each of the tasks were shaped in a way that used either his skills or his friends skills. Fluffy for Hagrid, the Devil's Snare for Neville or Hermione, the keys for Harry, the Chess Set for Ron, the troll for Ron or Harry, the potions for Hermione, and The Mirror for Harry. The traps were too well layed out in their designs to be an accident.

On top of that, he had to deal with the Chamber of Secrets almost single-handedly, except for Hermione and Ron, especially the latter after the former had become petrified. Why did the professors just stand around just doing nothing while the entire school was under attack? If the professors were capable of keeping track of the students, why were they not able to keep track of everything that was alive yet not a student in the castle? it made no sense to Harry. Visiting the acromantulas in the forest didn't help either, and he and Ron would have probably been dead if not for the loyalty of the old Anglia. And all of the professors that were in the castle seemed to be scared witless in the face of the unknown adversary. The only thing that they were willing to do was to send someone who was obviously a fraud after the monster while worrying about their own hides. Not that he expected anything else from Snape, the dirty snake... Another odd thing was that they both had to wait to make their own Mandrake for the patients, instead of just buying some on the market. Surely the immediate recovery of patients so that they could attend classes in at least some form was more important than your pride making you wait almost the entire school year. It was ridiculous that all of this should happen at one of the safest places in the world. Encountering Voldemort in any form after he had supposedly defeated him nearly 12 years previously was not conducive to a good learning environment, especially twice.

If he was going to keep encountering Voldemort like this, he was not going to sit down and just wait around. He was going to get trained, either with the help of someone, or if no one was willing to help, he was just going to do it himself. He quickly composed a letter to Professor Dumbledore, and sent it off with Hedwig praying that the man would see the reason to helping him.

HP

The Burrow had awoken that day to the noise of Ronald Weasley running down the stairs, apparently fearful that there would not be enough food left to feed himself. He was after all, a growing boy. On the way down, he stumbled off the last step leading to the third floor landing, and corrected himself by running into the nearest door, shaking it hard enough to loosen plaster from the ceiling. His one track mind didn't even bother to see any damage had been caused, and continued down the stairs.

In previous years when this has occurred, a certain female redhead would have been shocked out of bed and onto the floor, guarantying that whoever had the audacity to disturb her beauty sleep would get an excellent hexing within the hour.

But no reaction was heard from the smallest bedroom in the house. The occupant, one Ginerva Weasley, was indeed shocked out of her stupor, but it was not one of sleep. It was one instead of constant pain. Since the Chamber incident, she had had nightmares every night of something Tom Riddle had made her do. Every day further into the punishment, the nightmares became worse, and started to branch out into what should never happen to any girl, especially not of one who has yet to even reach puberty. Only two things had been able to keep her mind off of the nightmares, her feelings for Harry Potter and thoughts of revenge against all those who had wronged her.

She knew that it was unlikely that Harry would ever like her, and was extremely embarrassed at her previous actions. Even if she had no chance, however, did not mean that she would not help Harry when it came down to him fighting against whichever dark wizard that seemed to have it out for him at the time, be it Voldemort, Malfoy, or another random idiot. Ginny decided that the time was over for her to be a child, and that she needed to prepare for what lay ahead. Either by being trained or training herself, there was no doubt that the first Weasley girl in seven generations would bring the wrath of the entire family down upon anyone who tried to hurt her savior. She owed it to him, both for her debt, and her heart would not let her wander.

Unwittingly following the subject of her thought's actions, she decided to take the official route first, and scrawled out a quick letter to the Headmaster. When the entire family had departed breakfast to do what they fancy, Ginny snuck into the kitchen, tied the letter to Errol's leg, and sent him off.

Neither knew that their respective owls would reach their destination at the most opportune moment.

GW

"Albus, are you sure that the Chamber has been completely sealed and that any creature that may have occupied it is dead?"

Albus Dumbledore smiled. It was times like this that he was glad he had maneuvered himself into his current two positions. One as the Leader of the Light, one of if not the greatest warlocks in the world, and another as Headmaster of Hogwarts, one of the best and most well-respected educators in Europe. Just the mere mention of his name was often enough to persuade many people to his cause, and to further his own ideals. Now, though, the current crisis had to be resolved amicably. He needed to find a way to claim some of the credit for the defeat of the basilisk. It was probably best to say that he had instructed Fawkes to bring Harry the sword, yes. But the current task of insuring the school would have no worry of a repeat incidence of the Chamber was more important, as if the school was deemed vulnerable to invasion from the outside his own reputation would take the fall.

"Yes, Filius, I am certain that nobody would be able to enter in through the Chamber, as I have sealed off the entrance, and I have warded all the pipe systems to prevent anything in it other than what should be." This seemed to appease all but two of the professors, one of whom had a better suggestion.

"Are you sure that is the wisest idea to prevent unwanted entry, Albus? It seems like a much better idea to just ward the entire castle to prevent entry of unwanted characters into the castle. Or, at the very least, ward the area to monitor the location of living creatures inside the castle? That way, we could monitor anything alive, in case one of the students accidently, or deliberately, brings in a dangerous animal."

Dumbledore was barely able to hide the shock he experienced, but the rest of the staff was not able to hide it. Since when had this professor ever talked at these meetings, much less give his opinion? "Virgil, I am quite sure you know that we would not be able to ward off everyone, as we would need to be flexible and take in people in times of need. And even if it were possible to keep track of everything alive, it would be a grievous insult to the students here, knowing what they do at all times." Sighing wearily, he added, "Plus, the Board of Governors would need to know, and being extremely old fashioned and set in their ways, they would not agree to what is essentially constant surveillance."

Virgil was not convinced, but knew that any attempt to argue with the old Headmaster would be pointless. _'And what does he think he's doing? He knows very well that any living object could be tracked, even though it would be slightly difficult to incorporate everything. But if 4 teenagers are able to make one that tracks people, the Headmaster should find this easy.' _By the time he had zoned back in, He noticed that the meeting had moved onto slightly more inconsequential subjects. Namely: Quidditch.

"Minerva, Severus, you know that both of your teams have advantages with your team's broomsticks. We need to make a school maximum for the brooms. Or at least a standard per position, since they do have different needs…" At this point, the meeting was interrupted by two owls that flew directly to the headmaster. He took them from the owls, scanned over them as quickly as possible, and replaced them into the envelopes, while a strange emotion passed over his face. It was quickly squashed, though the same two as before were the only ones who noticed it. This time, the other addressed the headmaster.

"Albus, what are those two letters about?

"Not now, Severus, it is unimportant. They were just two students who were asking for advice. I will reply after we have adjourned."

Professor Caine's face showed interest. "Were those two letters addressing the same topic?"

"Yes they were, however, it is unimportant for the contents to be divulged…" He attempted to continue before Caine interrupted him.

"Well, it may be irrelevant, but I believe that since the owls in question belong to the Weasleys and Mr. Potter, the question asked must be relating somewhat to academics, since both Mr. Potter and the Weasley child who wrote you would only see you as a teacher, or at most a mentor. Maybe it would be best to address the issue to us all, if that is the case. We all have our specialties, and would be better equipped to help them." After finishing his speech, Caine folded his hands and waited for a response from Dumbledore.

The headmaster did, at least, refrain from the rebuke that was on his tongue. After considering the issue for a moment, he saw that there was no other way around it without being considered hiding something. He reluctantly uttered, "It seems that Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley have both decided that they desire additional workload in light of their continued, accidents, which have occurred in their two years." Seeing the slight agreement that the majority of the staff, he continued, "But I disagree, as they should be allowed to have a childhood before they train themselves in war. Anyways, additional training would only increase their egos, making them think that they were better than the other students." At this point, Snape jumped into the conversation.

"Of course it would increase his ego, Albus! The boy already has an ego larger than the rest of his tower! Giving both him and the Weasley girl private lessons would only serve to increase it!" Still fuming, he sat down muttering about 'insufferable Potters'.

The rest of the staff, while not easy with the decision, decided that it was enough for them that Albus Dumbledore didn't think he should be trained. Yet there was still one wizard at the table who did not agree.

"Albus, I disagree that there is much more that we can do to preserve their childhoods, and I definitely disagree that their egos would be boosted to unholy proportions. In fact, I know a way to train them without them leaving their current location." He knew that Albus had an obsession with leaving Mr. Potter with his closest blood relatives. Just by saying that, he knew he won.

Albus was thinking hard. He knew that the boy needed to a way to be kept from going too far out of bounds, but the question was how? Before, the Dursleys were able to keep him locked down, yet at the cost of much of Potter's childhood and his willingness to open up. The boy seemed to only do that to his two best friends, and they were proving difficult to persuade to open up to him. But, the boy might be easier to control by using the Weasley girl, especially if he fell for her… Yes that would work.

"Virgil, are you going to train both of them?"

Caine smirked inwardly, he had unquestionably won now. The only worrying thing was Dumbledore's insistence on both of them being trained. He definitely needed to watch out for the Weasley girl now. "Yes Albus, I do."

"Well, then, you are free to do so. Just remember that they cannot be leaving their current place of residence to come here, as being tutored at Hogwarts would without doubt raise their ego."

Caine answered promptly, "I will get right on it sir." Turning out of the meeting, he let the grimace out that he had been hiding. He knew that Dumbledore was attempting to control Harry, but just being able to feel the emotions to go along with the illogical arguments the headmaster made pushed him further than he had in a while. Not counting the inexplicable urge he had to shoot Severus… '_Ah well' There_ was work to be done, and he was the only one willing to do it. By the time he reached his room, he was glad he had prepared for this already, as the sooner he got the means to the students, the sooner he would show them a way.

He heard a noise while thinking, and turned around to speak to it. "Come on, don't look at me like that. Just get to their houses, and don't let anyone except Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley hear you. Now, go."

As he watched it fly out of sight, he had a slight grin. '_Oh, this is going to be so much fun'_.


	3. The Return of The Flying Machine

Chapter 2: The Return of The Flying Machine

There was a low rumbling noise over the streets of Little Whinging, not that any of the residents could hear it. If it was possible, some of them would have recognized the noise from the incident at the Dursleys the year prior. That family was such an upstanding family, really, taking in that orphan boy and raising him as their own. And after all of that, he decides to repay them by causing trouble, turning up his cousin's stereo system loud enough to wake the neighborhood, and then running off like the no good delinquent that he was. Really, the nerve of the boy was quite maddening.

Said boy, however, was too far absorbed in his work to listen to their whines and moans. _'I wish that these people had more to talk about than pointless gossip! Since when does any of this stuff matter, since when did the best lawn or the biggest car ever matter in life? They were just a bunch of lazy, self absorbed morons. No wonder the Dursleys are able to fit in.'_ Breaking off his thoughts, the rumbling noise finally reached his ears. Looking around, he could see nothing that should be making that noise, as there were no machines around. As it got louder, Harry noticed that noise was not only coming from the sky, but that the noise was intimately familiar. _'Oh no…'_

Out of the blue, a flying Ford Anglia barreled toward Number 4, Privet Drive at full throttle. Momentarily wondering both why the car was here and why no one seemed to be able to hear it, Harry decided that right now be a good time to panic. He quickly ran into the house and up the stairs to his room, in an attempt to get to his wand. Wishing that the windows in his room still had bars on it, he shut the door while flinging himself under the bed with his wand out. After a couple of minutes with no sounds if destruction emanating from the neighborhood, he peeked his head out from under the bed. There, sitting and idling in front of the window, was the Anglia. Slowly getting up, and jumping when it started to turn, he walked over to the window as the vehicle stopped turning with its hatch toward the window. A note appeared in Harry's hand, which simple said _Get out of the way._ Looking at the note and then back at the hatch, realization appeared on his face as it popped open. Dodging to the side, he narrowly dodged a trunk that was spat out of the hatch and into his room. Dazed by the event, he didn't even register that the car sped off, and just sat there for a minute before he bothered to look at the trunk.

The trunk was composed of a metallic substance, but was not one that was easily recognizable. The silvery blue material was surrounded by a rose brass trim which coalesced into three different locks. The lock on the left was circular with a lightning bolt one that he was intimately familiar with, inscribed into it. The middle lock, which was slightly raised above the other two, was a horizontal ellipse with what appeared to be a black hole engraved on it. The rightmost one, while even with the first lock, could only be called circular, as every time that Harry attempted to get a good look at it he was not able to look at it. Giving up on his attempts, he opened the leftmost lock and peered inside.

The only things that lay in the trunk were two letters. Picking them up, he saw that one was addressed to him and the other was addressed to the Dursleys. Grimacing, he placed that one aside and picked up his. Looking twice, he saw that the letters were all in a strange loopy pattern, but as it was legible, he continued to read it.

_Mr. Potter,_

_I do not believe I have ever had the pleasure of meeting you. I am Virgil Caine, Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. A few short hours ago, you sent an owl with a letter to Hogwarts, requesting special instruction based on your tendency in encountering dangerous circumstances. Originally, it was Professor Dumbledore's inclination to not train you, as he did not want you to leave the safety of your home._ Harry scoffed at this remark. It seems like he was up to his old tricks again. _However, Dumbledore relented after I devised a plan to teach you without you leaving Privet Drive proper. The solution was this trunk. It, my own, and another are connected to one another. This is where the locks come in. Each lock denotes a different section to each trunk. The one you retrieved this from is just a big box, except that it expands on the inside whenever is necessary and will always bring the object you are looking for to the center, preventing your possessions from being lost in your own trunk. The middle lock is the compartment that is linked to mine. I would suggest you enter as soon as your affairs are in order on this side. As your trunk is currently sitting in Privet Drive, anything that is connected directly to this trunk is considered at the location of the other trunks. Einstein would have a field day with this. The third lock is currently under a notice-me-not charm, which will be lifted as soon as you meet your fellow student._

_Yes, you do have another student to work with. You probably do not want to work with another, especially considering that this other student is a year younger than you, but do not worry. She will be brought up to speed before we start. But I digress. This work will be very hard Mr. Potter, and there will be times when you feel like quitting, but for your purposes it will be worth it. _

_The other letter is to your…guardians simply because for you to gain anything from this training you need not to be doing chores all summer. This will get you out of doing chores. If they don't, simply get into the trunk, as only the three of us are able to open it. I will come assist you at the earliest opportunity I have. We will meet at 8:00 tonight to go over what both of you will be studying, so do not be late._

_Hope to see you soon_

_-Virgil Caine_

_PS By the way, do not worry about Bert. (the car) I have found a loophole that will allow Mr. Weasley to take care of it from now on._

Harry looked up and grinned. This was exactly what he needed, real work. Not some mindless boggle that his aunt and uncle came up with. Quickly running downstairs to set the Dursley's letter where they would find it, he came back and started tossing stuff into the trunk. Not even taking fifteen seconds to move everything into it, he got up and stood next to the trunk, looking inside. Before his eyes, the mess was shifted from a pile to neat rows, each item with tag that told the name, properties, amount listed, and other trivial bits of info. The shirts he had gotten from Dudley were all marked _Note to self: Burn at nearest opportunity._ Laughing, he closed that part of the trunk and opened the middle lock. Bracing himself, he jumped in.

Darkness surrounded him, and he started to panic. He had landed on something soft and inviting, yet the last time he did that he landed on a Devil's Snare. Trying not to panic, he noted that the surface below him was indeed made of fabric instead of a plant, but he still grasped for something else. Crawling as quickly as possible, he soon reached an end to the fabric, from which he fell straight down. "Where do you turn on the bloody lights?!" At this, the lights lit to reveal a spacious bedroom/study, much better than even the dormitory at Hogwarts. "Hmm, let me try this. Lights off." The lights shut down. "Ok, the lights are voice activated. I wonder what else would work. Lights on low, fire on." The lights turned on low, while the fire flickered and lit. After a few more moments of fun, he went to the door of the room, to see if there was a way out. Attempting to turn the handle, he looked up just above his eyesight. There was a note.

_The door will be locked until 8. There is a book on the side table that should prove useful in the operation of the trunk. It should pique your interest._

Turning to the side table, he saw that the book had appeared on the table that had been empty moments before. Glancing back at the door, he picked up the book and sat down.

After a minute of silence, the only words that were heard were "Blue Fire!" After a few more moments of silence, a cacophony of commands was issued from within the room, until the room automatically silenced itself.

HP

The Burrow was alive with noise, as the four boys who stilled lived at home stormed down to the kitchen for lunch. Their enthusiasm was only dampened by one thing: their baby sister. She had gone off to school bright eyed and innocent, yet she had returned haunted. They had not protected her, and now she was paying the price. She was not opening up to anybody, not even Ron. Making a unanimous decision, it was told that no matter what, they would protect their sister from anything. They did not realize it was this behavior that had caused her to clam up in the first place.

As they watched their sister come down to lunch, the four of them decided it was time to tell her of their decision, but before she reached the table, she stopped. Perking her ears, she looked through the ceiling of the kitchen and muttered softly, "it can't be…" Apparently making up her mind, she went outside onto the lawn. Curious, and just a tad bit concerned for their sister's well-being, they followed.

By the time they had gotten outside, they were greeted by a very odd sight. Their sister was staring shocked at what they assumed was an invisible object, since where she was looking was nothing but air. After a few minutes of staring, she glanced down at her hand, where a piece of parchment had appeared. Fear passed over her face as she read the parchment and glanced back at the invisible object. Suddenly moving to the side, she was nearly hit by a flying silvery blue trunk. Quickly drawing their wands, they circled their sister and pointed their wands at the source of the disturbance. After a few moments, during which whatever it was did not attack again, Percy told Ron to go get their parents.

Five minutes later, the entire family minus the eldest two sons was outside with their wands, trying to figure out what was sitting in the front yard. The only thing they had determined was that neither the invisible object nor the trunk was dark magic, but whatever it was, the enchantment on the trunk was powerful. Whenever one of them tried to touch the trunk, flames started sprouting across the trim, and the harder one tried to open it, the hotter the flames burn. The only one who hadn't tried was Ginny, since her mother would not let her five feet from where she sat at the kitchen table.

"Ginny, dear, are you sure that you don't know where the trunk is from? It isn't normal for someone to just drop a normal magical item out in the middle of nowhere, and you appeared to know that something was happening. Would you care to enlighten us?"

She sighed; her mother was not getting the idea. "Mum, I told you, I do not know where that trunk came from, but why won't you let me try to open it? Maybe we'll find something that way."

"No, Ginny. I do not want to risk anything happening to you, especially since…" Mrs. Weasley was spared from finding a way to put 'the Chamber' nicely by her eldest son at home, who had burned his hands extremely badly while attempting to open the trunk. Sensing her chance, she snuck outside to where the trunk was still laying, unguarded as the other Weasleys were inside tending to their wounds.

The trunk was nearly exactly the same as the one Harry had received, the only difference being that she was able to see the right lock instead of the left. This lock had a flame inscribed on it, which also responded to her touch and opened up. Taking two letters from inside the trunk, she saw that one was addressed to her father, and the other to her. Opening it, she noticed the very odd way he had written it, almost where all the letters were S's. Shrugging, she read it.

_Ms. Weasley,_

_I do not believe I have ever had the pleasure to meet you, although I do know your father well. I am Virgil Caine, the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts. _ Ginny snorted. Knowing her father, he would milk the Professor dry of everything he knew. _I was most surprised during the staff meeting today when two owls flew in, both asking for help on a problem they faced. The Headmaster seemed…reluctant for a student to train over the holidays, as he believed that access to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts would give one an inflated sense of their position in life. He only deemed that you two could be trained without leaving your current place of residence. This is the purpose of the trunk. As I believe that you are familiar with the properties of magical trunks, the only points of interest are that the rightmost section of the trunk has infinite space that will appear as needed, the middle section is connected to mine and is where we will be conducting our training sessions. The leftmost is connected to my other student's trunk, and the notice-me-not charm that is placed over it that will be lifted after you meet your partner in this program._

_Yes, you will be training with a partner. Do not fret, as this partner does know what is at stake, and is quite ready for the training. As he is one year higher than you, however, you must work hard in order to catch up to him. I know of a way to do so, but we discuss this later. _

_As for the car, it does belong to your father, so I believe it should be returned to him. The invisibility and flight charms have been fortified to prevent failure, and a variable intensity Muggle repelling charm has been installed, based on how badly you want Muggles to ignore you. Also, if he does not notice it in his letter, the car is legal, as per Section 7 of the Muggle Avoidance Act: _All methods of magical transportation shall be easily hidden from the Muggle community, therefore being a common artifact of the said community._ Tell him to look it up if he ignores it._

_Good luck with your family Ginerva, and remember the first meeting is at 8:00. Don't be late_

_Hope to see you soon,_

_-Virgil Caine_

Ginny grinned; she knew that she would win the inevitable argument. As long as she brought up the fact that she was getting taught by her father's favorite professor from school, half the battle was over. And years of experience had taught her that wherever her father went, her mother soon followed. Interrupting her solitude was her mother's ringing voice.

"Ginerva Molly Weasley! You get away from that thing right now! We don't know if it is cursed or something even worse…"

"Mum! Don't worry, it do anything to me at all. In fact, there was a letter to me, and one to you and Dad."

Her face showing shock, Mrs. Weasley looked at her daughter, then at the letters in her hand. Confused, she took the one addressed to her and her husband, not noticing the writing on her daughter's letter. She wandered aimlessly back into the kitchen, where she firecalled her husband, who stepped out a minute later.

Thirty minutes later, the two were still discussing whether they should let their daughter participate. While Mr. Weasley was for the program all the way, his wife was not so sure. Eventually, he conceded that they would ask his old professor to meet with them the next day, so that Ginny would not be in any danger. As they left the kitchen, they were assaulted by four confused boys and one eager girl. Stopping them all with a glare, Mrs. Weasley told Ginny that she would be allowed to go through with it. Filled with glee, she hugged her mother and father (who whispered to her to ask Virgil if he had made any interesting Muggle/magic contraptions recently) and ran to the trunk, which she had tugged into the living room while waiting for her parents to decide. Ignoring the bewildered looks her brothers were giving her, she opened up the middle lock before jumping in. As Ron tried to follow her, the trunk slammed shut and locked. Looking at his mother, she tiredly ushered them back into the kitchen to explain what was going on.

Looking around the dark room, she remembered what little she knew about expanded magical spaces. Crossing her fingers, she said "lights on." As the lights came on, she grinned. Quickly reading the note on the door, she found what for better lack of terms was the instruction manual, and plopped down on the fireplace to read.

The room barely had to wait ten seconds to silence itself from the multitude of commands coming from inside the room.

A/N Pooky- Yes I do plan to do some, but not really overt for a while. They still have to become friends, don't they? And Randomink- Thanks, and where do you get that first idea? O:)


	4. Discussions on Magi

Only Virgil is mine. Nothing else.

Chapter 3: Discussions on Magi

It was five till eight when the doors on both of their rooms clicked open, and slowly swung out. As they both looked out of the door, a dark stone hallway lit only by green and gold flamed braziers extended outward to a silvery blue door. Stepping toward their door, they only took a moment to look at the hypnotizing metal before turning the latch and entering the room beyond. What they saw entranced them.

Instead of just another box room, they entered into what could be called a paradise, or the closest thing to it on Earth. There were grassy hills covering as far as the eye could see, with a small river running into a lake just a few hundred yards to the left. To the right was a hill larger than most of the others, which had an old style house standing proudly atop it. The sky was a pale blue with no cloud in it. Indeed, the only things that signaled that they weren't at an extremely picturesque part of the planet were the suns in the sky. One was bright green, while the other was a deep gold, each giving its own tones to the landscape. Ginny couldn't help but let out a sigh at the beautiful sight before her, surprising Harry, who hadn't even seen her standing right next to him. Before he could question her, someone clearing their voice interrupted them both.

Turning around, they both saw a mountain of a man silhouetted against the suns. Adjusting their eyes to the glare of the twin stars, his features started to sharpen. The first thing they noticed was that he was not dressed in either traditional wizard robes, like most of their professors did at all times, or in modern Muggle dress. He wore a black trench coat over a shirt of what appeared to be (at least to Harry) thin ballistic armor. The pants he wore appeared to be the same, in addition to his combat boots. The only thing that differentiated the cloth in the mountain's clothes from all they had seen before was a slight sheen, one that seemed to both reflect and absorb the surrounding light. They could not see his hands, as they were in the pockets of the trench coat, but his face was exposed to their critical eyes.

Not much of what was exposed was visible due to his hair and beard, both of which were long, the black flecked with red and grey. What they could see was a weathered and tired face, slightly gray for some reason that neither of them could place. The left eye was a hard yellow that seemed more apt for an eagle than for a man. The other eye, however, was what shocked the pre-teens the most. Situated in the eye socket was what appeared to be a circular piece of wrought iron with an adjustable lens in the center. From the center, a soft blue light glowed out. To cap off intimidating picture, was a black felt hat that seemed more at home in 1950 than in the present day. Backing away slowly, they were about to turn and run when a snicker issued from the man, and the whole picture was broken.

"So, you two are scared of me? Don't be. If I had wanted to kill you, you would already be dead." Seeing that his words, unsurprisingly, did not appease the children's fears, he added, "Would it help if I changed to a different form?"

Noticing Harry's confused look and Ginny's piqued interest, he changed himself into a slightly shorter, rounder form with a mop of brown hair and kinder blue eyes. A brown suit, slacks, and bowler hat 

finished the now genial look. Noticing their calmer expressions, he continued his speech. "Now, I suppose you both want to go through with this training, as you have already claimed the trunks as your own. I just need to make sure that you both want to go through with this, as the training will be grueling and very time consuming." Seeing them nod, he continued. "Alright, if you are sure you want to pursue this, we will begin."

The environment around them suddenly changed. The grass disappeared as the surface flattened. The twin suns vanished while the lake and house faded from existence. They were soon in a wood paneled room with a white board on one side and three large chairs surrounding a table. A fireplace soon sprang up on the side of the room opposite of the board, which soon filled the room with warmth. Sitting in the chair with its back facing the board, the professor beckoned the two to the other chairs. Startled, they followed his orders blankly while staring at the room around them. Chuckling, he drew their attention back to the task at hand.

"Now, this is where ya'll two get to ask the professor questions. Since I am tutoring you both, we need to figure out what I will be teaching you _both._" Looking at him oddly, he continued, "Yes, the both of you. Neither of you is advanced enough to go into any specialized training. You both need to learn the basics as much as you can before you can specialize. Now, is there anything you want to ask before we get on the subject of your tutoring?"

Ginny looked at Harry to make sure that he didn't have a question that needed answering immediately. Seeing only curiosity in his eyes, she turned back to the man. "You are able to transform into a different shape at will, correct?" Seeing his nod, she finished, "Are you a Metamorphmagus than, and could you teach us?"

"The answer to that is no, and I could teach you my version. I am…similar to a Metamorphmagus, but not quite the same. The form I showed you earlier was my true form, and not many people, including Dumbledore, have seen it."

"That would make sense, because from all I have heard from Dad was that they could only change the human part of their body, and if they had a fake leg or arm, or eye in your case, it wouldn't transform."

Virgil raised his eyebrows; this girl was smarter than any of her family gave her credit for. This would make the transition both harder and easier, as the base for the magic he was planning to teach the two was there in her, but he had to break down the base the rules had set down. "Indeed, you are correct. Would you like an explanation of why it is different?" They nodded.

Sighing, he continued. "There are three types of self-transforming magicians in existence right now, the Animagus, the Metamorphmagus, and the Technomagus. The Animagus is the most common, and once trained can transform into one animal that represents the person's being the most. The second most common is the Metamorphmagus, which can transform their body parts, but in most cases is limited in how much they can transform. A full Metamorphmagus is almost as rare as a Technomagus. A Technomagus is able to transform into most objects that aren't heavily magical. They can't transform into a broomstick, yet they can transform into a wizarding radio, and all Muggle contraptions. 

Technomagi are so rare because most are from pureblooded families, and the most useful technologies that a Technomagus can transform into are Muggle. This prevents most of the Technomagi from being trained. Now, have you noticed the differences in the three classes of magi? The Animagus has only one form, yet can transform into what that form is perfectly every time with practice. The Metamorphmagus is able to change what they transform into, yet in most cases, are limited in how and what they transform. The Technomagus is able to transform into most non-magical objects perfectly well, yet are not able to transform into magical objects. Do you notice the discrepancies?" Seeing realization beginning to appear in their eyes, he finished. "The reason there are discrepancies is that the three, along with two others, were originally parts of the same whole."

The two were not as surprised as they could have been, as the conversation had been leading up to this for quite a while. Yet they were entranced by his story, knowing that there should be a perfectly good reason. After waiting a few seconds, the professor continued, "1200 years ago, Merlin Ambrosias was the most powerful wizard on Earth. The reason why was because he was one of the few True Magi on the planet. A True Magi is a master of every magical field possible for the person. The Battle Magics, Non-Battle Magics, Transfiguration Magics, Self-Transfiguration Magics, Runic Magics, Spell-Crafting, Magical Flora and Fauna, Potions, Star Magics and the Mind Magics are those that every True Mage knew. The other, more personal magics were based more on the gifts of the mage, and including Blood Magics, Healing Magics, Time Magics, Elemental Magics, and Imbuing Magics. Now, the Self-Transforming Magics, or the ST Magics as I prefer to call them…" Here the two children heard something along the lines of '…blasted scribes that ain't got a lick of sense in how to word the labels for the magics…' which elicited a giggle from Ginny and a half smile from Harry. Noticing their reactions, Virgil straightened up and continued the discussion.

"Now, there are five parts to the ST-Magics, Metamorphing, Faunamorphing, Floramorphing, Inanimorphing, and Blinking." Their confused looks seeking him, he explained out further. "They are mostly self-explanatory, as Metamorphing, Faunamorphing, and Floramorphing is simply being able to transform into a person, animal, or plant/fungus. The Inanimorphing and Blinking are, respectively, being able to transform into any inanimate object, and being able to transform into nothingness." Blank looks confronted him after that last statement. "Imagine being able to turn yourself into nothing to instantly to avoid a curse or to travel to a faraway place instantly, as no mass requires very little energy to move at high speed, if that makes sense. Essentially, the less mass you have, the easier it is to move yourself, so no mass would be able to move at any speed with any amount of energy that is applied to it."

"Back to the story; one hundred years after the death of Merlin, in the mid 900s, the Ministry of Magic was formed. Now, this Ministry was well aware of the power of the magics, and the fearsome way that Morgana used it against Merlin. Fearing another Dark Mage the strength of her they set about banning and restricting the old Magics. Blood and Time Magics were completely outlawed, while any other curse or spell that could even somewhat be construed as lethal was immediately outlawed or restricted. Three spells which had gained notoriety during the war were labeled as Unforgiveable."

"The Killing Curse as it is known today was once a way to give a crippled animal, or person if they asked, a quick painless death to end their suffering. The only reason it was banned was because it is unblockable, as only one human has ever survived the curse. The way it was designed worked around shields is because it didn't give the recipient of the curse death. All that was needed to cast it was a hate of the situation that the target was in, hating being helpless and in pain, and needing someone else to end their suffering. The Cruciatus Curse, known either as the Pain Inflicting or Torture Curse, was once used by healers to test whether a person's nerves were still working, or if they were paralyzed. It only needed a want to determine if the nerve they were targeting work. When it was corrupted, more power was needed to fuel it, making it very inefficient. Hate is the only emotion strong enough for a wizard to power it, making the pain. The spell itself does not make the pain; it is the emotion that the castor feels for the castee. The Imperius, or Control Curse, is the most unchanged, as it was originally designed to control inanimate objects like puppets without strings. This was done mostly to entertain, or as a crude golem by those not versed well in the Elemental Magics."

"The ST-Magics of Blinking and Floramorphing were completely covered up, as Apparition was easier to trace and growing magical plants turned quite a profit. Metamorphing was heavily restricted, and methods to obtain it were only offered to certain families. The said methods also mentioned a test for Metamorphing that was skewed, only showing certain people in certain family lines every few generations. Faunamorphing was controlled by use of boomslang skin thrice during the brewing of the poition. These 'official' instructions constrained the Animagus to one form. Inanimorphing was lost, but was rediscovered as Technomorphing by an impressionable Muggleborn 2 centuries ago. The Ministry 'found' an old book on it, which created a block for the morpher." Chuckling again at their dazed looks, he concluded his speech. "Now, is that a good enough explanation?"

Jerking out of her stupor, Ginny nodded mutely. Just in thirty minutes, she had been told that the Ministry's main job was to tell the wizarding world what was and wasn't appropriate magic for it to learn, and that it had covered up the old magics which could be helpful. Her brain overloaded, she just sat in her chair and stared at her tutor. Harry, while in almost as bad of a state, did not go comatose, but asked another question. "How were you able to make this room so large, especially if it is in your trunk?"

Virgil visibly brightened. He loved this part of his trunk, and was glad to share his secrets. Not that he had ever had much of a chance. "Well, yes it is in my trunk, and the design is one of my better ones. I took a standard three dimensional space expansion rune, tied it to an infinite power rune, giving it an unlimited amount of room to expand, connected both to a control rune based on a blood rune in its middle tied to me. The space expansion runes are tied to object, flora, and fauna runes which allow me to create objects, plants, and animals in here. The blood rune allows only me to control it, as this model is extra-sensitive, and more than one master of the room would be too much for the rooms to handle. I built another set that was less complicated, but it disappeared inside a closet at Hogwarts a while ago."

Harry was slightly disappointed, he thought that something this complex would be, well more complex in design. "That seems too easy…"

Virgil smirked. "It is. The real design is hundreds of runes long, and really tiny in order to fit in the chest. It took _forever_ to make them. I also didn't mention a few other runes, but that will come later. Ya'll two are going to be asleep soon, and I don't want to boot you out of the trunk. It is nearly 10:30, anyways."

Jerking themselves out of their chairs, they slowly moved to the doors that appeared on the wall, one with a lightning bolt and the other with a flame. Getting up himself, Virgil followed them over to the doors. Before Ginny left, he addressed her.

"Ginerva, would you tell your parents that I will meet with them tomorrow morning, say around 10 o'clock? That way we all will be awake."

Too tired to even scowl at the use of her full name, Ginny mumble ok while closing her door. Harry had almost shut his door before opening it back up to face Virgil.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"You did say I was the only person to survive the killing curse?"

"Yes the only one."

"The only human?"

"Yes, Harry."

"Alright; goodnight, Professor."

"Goodnight"

HP

A/N There is no significance, as of yet, to the gold/green suns, I just thought they were cool. Comet Moon- I know this doesn't answer any questions, but it should provide some hints as to the answers. Pooky-There probably won't be much H/G until they start training, which will be in the next 2 or 3 chapters, so hang in there.


End file.
